GAINESVILLE — Despite having just five wins in the first half of the season, two-time defending Lanierland champion Gainesville showed Thursday night it is not ready to see it fall into other hands
The Red Elephants used a tremendous third quarter defensive stand to grab the lead and then hold on for a 76-65 win over former coach Benjie Wood and Cherokee Bluff in the opening round at the Chestatee gym.
Gainesville was joined in the semifinals by Lakeview Academy, North Hall, and East Hall, which all took opening round victories. The semifinals and finals will move to West Hall on Friday and Saturday.
The Red Elephants next will play Lakeview Academy in the semifinals on Friday at 8 p.m. at West Hall.
The two teams were knotted at 40 at the intermission but the Red Elephants (6-7) outscored the Bears (8-6) 24-9 in the third quarter to take control.
Gainesville came into the contest with expectations of defending its title but without the star-studded roster of the past two campaigns.
“Even though we have an experienced team, some of our guys haven’t been in this type of environment before,” said first-year Gainesville coach Chuck Graham. “The second half was about will. We gave up 40 points in the first half. First three minutes of the third quarter we just sat down, forced some turnovers and got layups.”
The Bluff, which had won 4 of its last 5 games overall, came out firing running out to a 22-14 lead late in the first quarter. But Gainesville scratched and clawed its way back into the game with a 26-18 run to close out the second quarter.
Coupled with the defense, the Gainesville offense drained three 3-pointers in the third quarter.
The Red Elephants offense also showed rare balance with four players in double figures, led by Rafael Rubel with 16 points. Walt Dixon added 13 points, Datavian Buffington had 12 points, and Brent Kelly added 10 for Gainesville.
The Bears’ Griffin Neville put on a show with 29 points to lead all scorers but it wasn’t enough. Bosko Norman added 14 points for Cherokee Bluff.
EAST HALL 62,
JOHNSON 49
East Hall used a big second half to pull away from Johnson Thursday in the first round of the Lanierland Tournament.
With the win the Vikings (8-6) will take on North Hall in the semifinals Friday at 5 p.m. at West Hall.
The two teams played to a near draw in the first half with East Hall leading 10-8 after the first quarter and the Knights (5-6) pulling to within 28-27 by intermission.
But the Vikings outscored Johnson 34-22 after the break, including a 23-15 fourth quarter to pull away for the win. East Hall’s Kylan Curry took over in the second half, scoring 17 of his 26 points in the final two quarters, including 13 in the fourth quarter
Johnson made a push to come back in the fourth, and had the game within six with 6:36 left, but East Hall responded with an 8-2 run to maintain a double-digit lead.
Danny Garcia poured in 17 points for the Knights while Jayvion Rucker added 14, including two thunderous dunks, for East Hall.
NORTH HALL 55,
FLOWERY BRANCH 46
The North Hall boys survived an upset bid from Flowery Branch Thursday in the first round of the Lanierland Tournament.
The Trojans (5-9) next take on the Johnson-East Hall winner at 5 p.m. on Friday at West Hall in the semifinals.
North Hall trailed 10-7 midway through the first quarter but used a 7-0 run to close out the period and never trailed again. That was part of a bigger 14-1 spurt that gave the Trojans a 21-12 lead. Flowery Branch several times over the final three quarters got within three points but could not reclaim the lead.
Shooting woes for the Falcons (1-11) were their undoing as they made just one 3-pointer for the game. They missed eight attempts in the fourth quarter alone.
North Hall had its own problems, mainly from the foul line as the Trojans missed 6 of 7 attempts late in the fourth quarter lading 50-44 with a chance to put the game away.
But four Flowery Branch turnovers in the final two minutes undid any chances the Falcons had of mounting a comeback as they went seven straight possessions without scoring.
Ty Smith paced North Hall with 13 points. Luke Gunter had points for the Trojans, who hit five 3-pointers but were just 10-of-18 from the foul line.
Flowery Branch was led by Mario Brown’s 10 points. Trey Shaw had 9 for the Falcons, who were just 5-of-12 from the free throw line.
LAKEVIEW ACADEMY 60,
WEST HALL 42
Lakeview Academy overcame a sluggish start to pull away from West Hall in the second half Thursday in the opening round of the Lanierland Tournament at the Chestatee gym.
Lakeview (8-4) next will take on the Cherokee Bluff-Gainesville winner in the semifinals at 8 p.m. Friday night at West Hall.
The Lions trailed the entire first quarter as the Spartans (2-10) took a slim 8-6 lead into the second quarter. Lakeview, behind Blake McIntyre and Arturo Varela, caught fire in the second period outscoring West Hall 22-9 to grab a 28-17 halftime lead. The Spartans never got closer than 13 the rest of the way as Lakeview led by as many as 20 in the fourth quarter.
McIntyre, who poured in 17 points, and Varela, who added 15, picked up the offensive slack after leading scorer Adam Cottrell got in early foul trouble.
“I think the guys were a little too excited at the start with it being Lanierland,” Lakeview coach Todd Cottrell said. “I thought we really settled down from the second quarter on. We still have a lot to improve on but I think we’re getting better in some areas as well.”
Cottrell finished with 13 points and Holden Cooper chipped in with 12 for Lakeview.
West Hall was paced by Noah Edmundson, who poured in a game-high 25 points. But no other Spartans were in double figures. Sawyer Passmore had 7 points for West Hall.
Thursday’s results (at Chestatee High School)
Chestatee girls 60, West Hall 34
Lakeview Academy boys 60, West Hall 42
North Hall girls 60, Lakeview Academy 59
North Hall boys 55, Flowery Branch 46
Gainesville girls 70, East Hall 62
East Hall boys 62, Johnson 49
Flowery Branch girls 55, Cherokee Bluff 43
Gainesville boys 76, Cherokee Bluff 65
Friday’s schedule (at West Hall High School)
-- Consolation bracket
Lakeview Academy girls vs. East Hall, 9:30 a.m.
Johnson boys vs. Flowery Branch 11 a.m.
West Hall girls vs. Cherokee Bluff, 12:30 p.m.
West Hall boys vs. Cherokee Bluff, 2 p.m.
-- Semifinals
Gainesville girls vs. North Hall, 3:30 p.m.
East Hall boys vs. North Hall, 5 p.m.
Chestatee girls vs. Flowery Branch, 6:30 p.m.
Lakeview Academy boys vs. Gainesville, 8 p.m.
